NFL Notebook: Awaiting fate, Gordon reports to Browns camp

The embattled Pro Bowl wide receiver reported to Browns training camp on Friday and passed his conditioning test as he awaits an appeal hearing with the NFL on a possible suspension.

Gordon is scheduled to meet with the league on Aug. 1. He's facing a one-year ban for violating the substance abuse policy for at least the third time. Gordon was suspended for the first two games last season, but still led the league with 1,646 yards receiving and scored nine touchdowns.

He entered the league with a history of marijuana abuse after failing two drug tests in college. Gordon reportedly entered a rehab clinic following a recent DUI arrest in Raleigh, North Carolina and spent two weeks at a clinic in California.

Looking fit and fast, Gordon participated with Cleveland's other veterans in the grueling conditioning test.

field with leg injury

ANDERSON, Ind. — Colts running back Vick Ballard was carted off the field Friday with a lower left leg injury.

Team owner Jim Irsay, making his first appearance at training camp, said Ballard would have an MRI.

Ballard appeared to hurt his ankle on a pass play during Indy's afternoon practice. After initially limping, Ballard was taken to the locker room on a golf cart. He wasn't even hit on the play, and the Colts have not yet practiced in full pads.

Ballard ran for 814 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie in 2012, and had 13 carries for 63 yards in last year's season opener. But before the Colts second game, Ballard tore the ACL in his right knee.

agree to part ways

TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are moving on without injured offensive lineman Carl Nicks, who appeared in just nine games over two seasons after signing a five-year, $47.5 million contract in free agency.

In a brief statement released on the opening day of training camp, the Bucs and the two-time Pro Bowl guard "mutually agreed" to sever ties Friday.

Nicks, 29 didn't miss a game in four seasons with New Orleans, however a left toe injury two years ago and the recurrence of a MRSA infection in 2013 kept him off the field for most of his stay with the Bucs. Nicks said in a statement that stepping away from football was "by no means an easy decision," but he thinks it's best for him, his family and the Bucs.

convicted in Alabama

DECATUR, Ala. — A judge on Friday convicted Dallas Cowboys linebacker Rolando McClain of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct in his Alabama hometown and imposed an 18-day jail term that could interrupt the player's bid to restart his career.

Municipal Judge Billy Cook convicted McClain on the misdemeanor counts after a non-jury trial that lasted about three hours. McClain was accused of yelling an obscenity at police trying to arrest him during a disturbance in a crowded city park in 2013.

McClain won't have to report for his jail sentence until after an appeal is complete in state court. Cook also ordered McClain to pay $1,572 in fines and court costs. It's unclear how long an appeal might take.

The judge signed a document stating McClain, 25, was free to leave the state while challenging the conviction.

Defense attorney Harvey Steinberg said McClain would head to Cowboys training camp in Oxnard, California, within hours of the trial.

"My attitude is I think I ran into the only person in the entire state of Alabama that would convict Rolando McClain based on this evidence," Steinberg said. "Unfortunately, it happened to be the judge."

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett declined to discuss the conviction and said he didn't have any details on McClain's return to the team.

fight at nightclub

MIAMI — NFL offensive linemen Mike and Maurkice Pouncey have been sued by three people who say the twin brothers attacked them at a Miami Beach nightclub.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on behalf of Ricquan James, Niya Pickett and Brentley Williams. They are seeking more than $15,000 in damages.

According to the lawsuit, the Pounceys harassed James with homophobic remarks and physically attacked him July 12. The lawsuit says Pickett was beaten when she tried to intervene and Williams was injured when the Pounceys threw James and Pickett out of the club.

The Pounceys' attorney has said the brothers were not involved in any altercation.

No charges have been filed. Maurkice Pouncey plays center for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Mike Pouncey is a center for the Miami Dolphins. Both played college ball at Florida.

to play in preseason

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Injured middle linebacker Jon Beason said Friday he is hopeful he can play in a preseason game for the New York Giants.

Beason has been sidelined since breaking a bone in his right foot and incurring ligament damage in June. The 29-year-old Beason is running on an underwater treadmill, is active in the weight room, and he's eager to get back on the field.

But he says he won't do anything foolish and suffer a setback in his recovery.

"If you go too fast, all of a sudden you have a setback and now all of a sudden you're pushing that timetable of Sept. 8," he said of the regular-season opener at Detroit. "So we want to be smart about it. Obviously, I'm going to do what they tell me, but I would love to get in the preseason and get some reps."

Beason was acquired last October and his first game was the sixth straight loss for the Giants to open the season. But they went 7-3 the rest of the way, and the defense that had struggled before he arrived finished eighth in the NFL overall.

ANDERSON, Ind. — Jim Irsay was back on the Colts practice field Friday, his 43rd year at a training camp.

He's still not sure how much he'll be involved with the team this season.

Irsay is awaiting a decision from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about a possible punishment following his March arrest on charges of driving while intoxicated and driving with a Schedule I or II controlled substance in his body.

Less than 48 hours after the arrest, the Colts said Irsay had entered a treatment facility.

Irsay acknowledged in 2002 he had become dependent on painkillers after several years of orthopedic operations. He said then that he had overcome the problem.

Irsay did not discuss the legal case or Goodell's possible decision at camp.

After two injury-filled seasons, an alteration is coming to how Green Bay prepares for games.

The practice schedule is changing, with players getting an off day, then running through practice the day before a game. That's the reverse of how things were done last season.

"This is the first time the schedule is changing in nine years," McCarthy said Friday as the Packers reported to camp. "This is the third year we've talked about it. I decided in spring to take the leap. We really just want to get that right and get our guys ready."

McCarthy described it as a philosophical change. It's another noticeable tweak following a 2013 season in which the Packers finished 8-7-1 and won a third straight NFC North title before losing at home in a wild-card game to the San Francisco 49ers.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed a 10-year, $43 million naming-rights contract with EverBank.

The NFL team and Florida's largest bank announced the deal Friday, hours after the Jaguars opened training camp.

EverBank is in the final year of a five-year, $16.6 million contract that plastered its brand around Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. EverBank has nearly doubled in size and gone public since the initial agreement in 2010.

The city still has to approve the new deal, which calls for Jacksonville to waive its 25-percent share ($10.75 million) of the naming-rights revenue for the publicly owned facility. Jacksonville's city council passed a similar motion by a 14-3 vote in 2010, and Mayor Alvin Brown says he's in favor of waiving the quarter share again.